XL backers' arguments that the project is a jobs provider are being disputed. Many, including some labor activists, feel that the pipeline issue does not need to be divisive, and that they share the same underlying interests.

The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive economic think tank, issued a statement that was positive in tone and substance about some aspects of the Labor Department's report but negative about others.

The department released its environmental impact statement on the project, which would transport 830,000 barrels of oil daily from Alberta's tar sands to refineries of the U.S. Gulf Coast. There are 30 days for public comments.